Artificial limb.



J. E. HANGER. ARTIFICIAL LIMB.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 9. 1908.

95 1 ,989. Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

barrier) s'raifigaarnnr oismcn.

JAMES E. HANGER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

ARTIFICIAL LIMB.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, James E. HANGER, of lVashington, District ofColumbia, have in vented a new and useful Improvement in ArtificialLimbs, which improvement is fully set forth in the followingspecification.

This invention relates to artificial limbs, and more particularly to thefoot portions thereof, and has for its object to provide a yieldingportion thereof which shall form an elastic base for the foot and causethe same to be comparatively noiseless in use. thereby more nearlysimulating the natural foot. Heretofore attempts have been made toaccomplish these objects by the provision of an entire pneumatic foot orof certain pneumatic portions thereof, and one of the difficultiesexperienced has been that in case the air or other gas with which thepneumatic portion of the foot is charged is released in any way by apuncture or a leaky valve, the foot collapses to a greater or lessextent, thus leaving the wearer in an awkward and unsatisfactorycondition until the repair is made or the pneumatic portion recharged.

The object of the present invention is to provide a foot of the classindicated which shall afford the yielding and noiseless action desirablein such structures, while at the same time obviating the objectionsincident to the possible puncture or other means for deflation of thepneumatic portion.

lVith these objects in view the invention consists in a foot composed ofany suitable material such as wood or felt or wood and felt providedwith a pneumatic chamber or cushion for the heel and with two pneumaticchambers located one along each side of the foot, said chambers whenexpanded affording the yielding action at the heel and a light yieldingaction on each side of the foot, whereby the foot would be slightlyspread or expanded like the natural foot, thereby causing the same toproduce the same action upon the shoe of the wearer as would occur inthe natural foot, thus obviating the tightly-drawn and objectionableappearance of the shoe ordinarily worn on a wooden foot. These threepneumatic chambers may, if desired, be made separate and independent ofeach other, and means provided for separately charging each chamber.Preferably, however, the lateral channels are connected at their rearends with the heel chamber, to the end that a single charging orificemay be provided for the three chambers. Prefer- Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed July 9, 1908.

Patented Mar. 115, 1910. Serial No. 442,646.

ably also the sole or bottom portion of the foot is recessed for thereception of the heel and lateral chambers so that the same project butslightly below the normal level of the foot and there is thus leftbetween the two lateral chambers a solid sole portion of the foot, tothe end that in case deflation of the chambers occurs through any cause,such solid or tin-cutaway portion of the sole affords a firm treadportion for the support of the wearer. The result of this constructionis that in ordinary use the properties incident to the elastic portionsor chambers are all present while at the same time the foot remains in afairly usable state in case of accidental deflation.

The inventive idea involved is capable of a variety of mechanicalexpressions, one of which for the purpose of illustrating the inventionis shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is anelevation, partly in section; of an artificial shoe embodying theinvention; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of such a foot; and Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view on the line 33, Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is any suitable foot portion hinged to theankle portion 2 by any suitable hinge, as 3, and having the usual or anydesired toe portion 4 ointed thereto in the usual or any suitablemanner. The heel of the foot is more or less recessed and in said recessis located the pneumatic heel chamber 5, while the lateral pneumaticchambers (3-43 extend along the sides of the foot and preferably inrecesses deep enough to receive and protect more or less of the saidlateral chambers. As here shown the lateral chambers,66 are forwardextensions of the heel chamber 5, though as stated above they might, ifdesired, be separate therefrom.

Between the lateral extensions 6-6 the central portion of the soleextends downward, preferably for at least half of the diameter of thelateral chambers 66, as shown at 7 Preferably the chambers 5 and 66 arecomposed of any air-tight material, such as rubber, and for the pur poseof protecting the same against the abrading action of the body of thefoot, the chambers are suitably protected as by a sheet of suitablefibrous material 8, felt being a very serviceable material for thispurpose. If desired, the chambers 5 and 66 may also be further protectedand strengthened to avoid bursting under the strain incident to theweight of the wearer by wrapping the same with strips of strong fibrousmaterial 9, such as canvas.

The chambers 5 and 6-6 may be charged with air in any suitable mannerand, as here shown, there is provided a charging tube 10 extendingupward through a perforation in the heel portion of the foot and intothe hollow portion of the leg, a suitable valve 11 being provided at theend of said tube whereby a charging tube from a pneumatic pump may beattached. This construction of valve 11 may be that of the ordinarybicycle valve or any other suitable valve.

l/Vhen the weight of the foot of the wearer is off of the foot and atthe instant when it touches the ground, the inflated parts will appearas indicated in Fig. 2. The moment the weight of the wearer falls uponthe foot the heel portion which receives the main thrust takes up thejar and as the sole of the foot strikes the ground the two chambers 66receive a portion of the weight and are thereby expanded laterally, withthe result that the foot is slightly spread at the sides, therebyexpanding the shoe incasing the foot much as would occur in the naturalfoot. When the weight of the wearer is removed from the foot theselateral channels and heel portion again assume their natural shape,permitting the shoe to slightly contract. The result of this action isthat a shoe slightly looser than that ordinarily worn on an artificialfoot may be worn and its normal appearance will be that of the naturalfoot. In case the chambers 5 and 66 should become deflated for anycause, the weight of the wearer instead of falling upon the pneumaticchambers 66 would rest upon the deflated heel portion and upon thecentral portion 7 of the sole of the foot, and while some of theadvantages of the pneumatic foot would thus be lost the foot wouldnevertheless be in a fairly usable condition until the chambers 5 and 6Gcould again be recharged.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. In an artificial limb, a foot portion provided with two pneumaticchambers eX- tendin one alon each side of the sole thereof and means forcharging said chambers.

2. In an artificial limb, a. foot provided with two lateral recesses inthe sole thereof one extending along the edge portion of each side ofthe foot, a pneumatic chamber located in each of said lateral recessesand means for charging said lateral chambers.

3. In an artificial limb, a foot portion having alongitudinally-extending pneumatic chamber located 011 each side of thesole portion of the foot with a central portion of the foot extendingdownward be tween said chambers, and means for charging said chambers.

l. In an artificial limb, a foot portion provided with a recessed heeland lateral recesses extending from the said recessed heel forward alongthe sides of the sole of the foot and three pneumatic chambers onelocated in the recess of the heel and one located in each of therecesses along the sides of the foot.

5. In an artificial limb, a foot portion provided with a recess in theheel thereof and lateral recesses extending from the heel forward alongeach side of the foot, an air chamber located in the heel recess and anair chamber located in each of the lateral recesses, said three chamberscommunicating with each other, and means for simultaneously charging allthree of said chambers.

(3. In an artificial limb, a foot portion provided with a recessed heeland lateral recesses extending therefrom forward, and three connectedpneumatic chambers located one in the heel and one in each of the saidlateral recesses, and means for charging said chambers.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

JAMES E. HANGER.

lVitnesses:

WV. B. KERKAM, S. T. CAMERON.

